My One
by Ieyre
Summary: Yugi and his friends discover that often things are not what they seem and the past can change a man dramatically...paticularly a certain CEO...*CHAPTER 7 UPLOADED!!* R&R!
1. A stranger or is she?

Ieyre: Hi everyone! It's me again, here for a little Yu-Gi-Oh! Fun, or, as my principal calls it "Og-ee-oh" (No, seriously, at our assembly he was like, "No more Pokeeman, no more Digeeman, and no more Og-ee-oh cards at school.")  
Yami Ieyre: That's because your principal is a dumb ass *sighs at my principal's stupidity*.  
Ieyre: Gotta agree with you there...oh, this is Yami, she needs no introduction...  
Yami Ieyre: Whatever...your cheap flattery won't work on me, you know. Let's just start this fic.  
Ieyre: Oh! Okay...well, better summarize this story for you. A new girl comes to Domino (WAY overdone, I know), and revels to Yugi, Joey, Tea, Tristen, and Bakura a secret past of someone they all know well...and don't truly understand...Okay, I was just watching WB and I am peeved at Mai right now! She's like "Whoever's hosting this tournament is rumored to be filthy rich and have an obnoxious attitude...so I'm betting Kaiba." Ra, look who's talking! Mai has the most obnoxious attitude ever! No offense to Mai fans, I really don't dislike her, and I actually found that line kinda funny, but still...she's so hypocritical! At least all those other people in the crowd were cheering for him...and Joey wasn't invited! DAMN... that's funny! He's going to be sooooo pissed off when he finds out (^_^ He's funny when he's ticked at Seto...They are really more alike than they know). So-  
Yami Ieyre: WILL YOU SHUT UP AND START THE STUPID FIC ALREADY???????  
Ieyre: Oh. Right.  
  
Disclaimer:   
  
Joey: Ieyre does not own Yu-Gi-Oh!, thank God, otherwise KAIBA would be the main character and me an' him would be fighting for the succession of the show.  
Seto: Don't you mean 'duration' Wheeler? We would be fighting for the duration of the show, because for some odd reason Ieyre likes watching us insult each other.  
Ieyre: Yes I do ^-^ Now! TO THE FIC-MOBILE!  
  
***********************  
  
"Class! We have a new student!"  
  
The Domino High school soft-mores all quieted down (slightly). It was the beginning of class, what do you expect?  
  
"I'd live to introduce our new student, Ms. Sinclair. Please make her feel at home here in Domino. Does anyone volunteer to show her around the school? Ms. Gardner?"  
  
Tea Gardner had tentatively raised her hand at the teacher's request.  
  
"I'll show her around, Miss." Tea said cheerfully.  
  
"Well, good. Now, Ms. Sinclair...?"  
  
The teacher stepped aside to reveal a girl. About Tea's height, with shoulder-length brown hair and bright brown eyes, she made several of the boys whistle, including a certain Blond-haired boy sitting in the back. With splash of freckles and a curvy figure, this girl was truly something special. However, there was something in her face that suggested she was wise beyond her years, but not comfortable. Almost sorrow...  
  
/Yami, she looks so sad...I sense that she is a tormented soul.../ Yugi Muto communicated with the spirit of his puzzle.  
  
//Yes Yugi...I feel she is somehow connected with us...but not the Millennium items, or ancient Egypt. A past in this life...//  
  
/Ours? /  
  
//No Yugi...but someone close to us. Don't mention this to the others. Will find out if I'm right soon enough.//  
  
"Now class...onto roll call." The teacher began yelling out last names. It's a Japanese thing, don't ask.  
  
"Gardner?"  
  
"Here!"  
  
"Hudson?"  
  
"Here!"  
  
"Johnson?"  
  
"Here!"  
  
"Kaiba?"  
  
There was no response. The room was still.  
  
"Kaiba? Mr. Kaiba?" The teacher's eyes glanced to the seat in the back left corner. "Well, he must be ill...Ms. Sinclair, you may sit in Mr. Kaiba's seat for today."  
  
"Ms. Sinclair" walked up the row to her seat in the back.  
  
After the commotion, the class settled back into the usual bored stupor. It passed uneventfully.   
After class, Tea and her close group of friends walked up to the new student, who was gazing around the hall like she was used to new and frightening places.  
  
"Hi! My name's Tea Gardner, and I'm supposed to show you around the school. These are my friends-"  
  
"Yugi Muto." Yugi shook her hand politely.   
  
"Joey Wheeler, sorry bout whistlin' at you, it was a joke." Joey grinned good-naturedly.   
  
"Tristin Taylor, sorry about my friend here. It's not his fault he's an idiot." Tristin grinned as well, and Joey threw him a mock punch.  
  
"And I'm Bakura Ryou. What's your full name?" Bakura asked shyly, lowering his eyes slightly. He was the last of the group of close friends.  
  
"Oh...you can call me Ella. Ella Sinclair." Ella smiled at them, showing just how pretty she could be.  
  
"Well, Ella," Yugi asked, "What brings you to Domino?"  
  
Ella suddenly looked slightly nervous.  
  
"Well...when I was young, about 7, my parents...both died in a car accident...so I went to Domino Children's orphanage..."  
  
The group all looked sympathetic.  
  
"Oh, Ella, I'm so sorry..." Yugi began.  
  
"It's alright, I've gotten over it. After spending about 3 years there, I was adopted by a nice couple. Trouble was, their jobs both required a lot of traveling. So we've been moving in and out of cities for the last five years...I have really poor social skills now. I can't make friends...and I just found out that my stepparents are getting new jobs, so we'll be staying here for good! I'm worried I won't be able to make friends..." Ella finished her story, tears glistening in her eyes.  
  
"Don't worry, Ella. We can help. Meet us outside after school." Yugi instructed.  
  
"Well...okay...bye..."  
  
"Bye, Ella!" The whole gang called. The all clattered back to their classes, waiting for the end of the day.  
  
**************************  
  
At the end of the school day, everyone met outside. Yugi invited Ella to join them at the arcade, and she reluctantly agreed.  
As they walked along the sidewalk, Joey talked quite a bit, to fill in the silence, revealing his true personality to her very quickly.  
  
"You know..." she started, "You remind me of someone I once knew, Joey. He was stubborn and independent just like you...and proud as well. But deep in side, really sweet." Ella stared into Joey's eyes.   
  
"Gee...thanks Ella." Joey blushed. [A/N: When he finds out who she is referring to, he is gonna' regret saying that...eep! I'm giving stuff away!]  
  
"Here it is, the arcade!" Yugi announced, happily.  
  
As they walked into the doorway, a small, striped-shirted figure with scruffy black-hair opened the doors and bumped into Ella.  
  
"Oh, sorry, I wasn't looking where I was..." Mokuba stopped short when he saw Ella. His large eyes widened with recognition of her. "...Addy? Addy, is that you?"  
  
Ella stared at the boy, a look of pure shock on her face.  
  
"Moku...Mokuba? Little Mokuba..."  
  
Without a second thought, the two hugged like brother and sister both joyfully doting each other. Mokuba started crying and was speaking to her chest in between sniffles.  
  
"Oh Addy...I m-m-mm-missed you so m-m-m-m-much...I wished so hard that you would come back and..." He broke off, sobbing. Tears formed in Ella's eyes as she cradled Mokuba in her arms, comforting her.  
  
//Yugi...I think we've found where this girl lies in the past.// Yami said to Yugi.  
  
/Who's?/ Yugi asked, dreading the answer slightly.   
  
//The Kaiba brothers'.//  
  
**************************   
  
^_^ Cliffy! FUN! R&R please, thanks! 


	2. A secret revealed

Ieyre: Hi again...well, I gotta keep this one short, as the last intro was a BIT too long.  
Yami Ieyre: A bit? *snorts* Understatement of the year...  
Ieyre: *glares at INCREDIBLY annoying Yami* Well, anyway, thanks Brood Mayran and setoobsessed for reviewing chapter one. Setoobsessed, I LOVE your name!  
Yami Ieyre: You would. *reads chapter two so far* Hey, I'm not INCREDIBLY annoying!  
Ieyre: *Grins* Now, to chapter two!  
  
Disclaimer: Mokuba: Ieyre does not own Yu-Gi-Oh!, whoever it was that made we so KAWAII does ^_^!  
Joey: Yeah...what he said.   
  
****************  
  
"Mokuba...oh, Mokuba, you've grown up so much! What happened to you and-"  
  
"Ella, what's going on?" Yugi interrupted. He and his group of friends all were very confused. Why had this strange new girl suddenly hugged Mokuba? "How do you know Mokuba?"  
  
"Yugi, you don't have to call me Ella. My full name is Adele Sinclair. I just have people call my Ella...Because 'Adele' brings back memories...painful ones. My adopted parents liked Ella better, besides. They've practically forgotten my real name anyway."  
  
//Painful memories?// Yami thought.  
  
"And I know this little one," She gestured to Mokuba, "Because we grew up together at the D.C.O."  
  
Mokuba grew pale at the mention of the three letters.  
  
"D.C.O? What's that?" asked Tea, in bewilderment.  
  
Mokuba bit his lip anxiously, large gray eyes getting wide, almost pleading with Adele to not answer Tea.  
  
/Yami, Mokuba...he looks so afraid./ Yugi was talking to Yami again  
  
//Yes, Yugi. I have a feeling that Adele will be able to tell us some things about him that Mokuba does not want us to know.//  
  
/Why would Mokuba not want us to know something?/  
  
//No Yugi, you're right. Not Mokuba...Mokuba has opened to you and me. It's the elder Kaiba I fear that has been holding out on us...//  
  
Adele didn't notice Mokuba's expression she seemed so excited.  
  
"D.C.O.? Why, it's Domino Children's Orphanage, of course! Mokuba and I grew up there together!"  
  
****************************  
  
[Ieyre: You think I should stop right here? People reading: NO! Evil authoress! If you stop here you die! Ieyre: *cowers* Okay...]  
  
"WHAT???? MOKUBA, YOU GREW UP IN AN ORPHANAGE????" Joey, Tristin, Bakura and Tea were all completely speechless, gaping at the little boy. Yugi had called Yami, who was the most shocked.  
Mokuba stared guiltily at his feet. Yami Yugi gently placed his hand on the boy's chin and raised it to look into the boy's wide eyes. Mokuba gulped at Yami's stern gaze.  
  
"Mokuba..." he started gently, "Why did you not tell us that you were an...an orphan?"  
  
Tears filled those innocent eyes again.  
  
"I never told you because...because..."  
  
"Yes...?  
  
"Because...ummmmmmm...I thought you...didn't care! That's it, I thought you didn't care!" Mokuba shiftily avoided Yami's gaze. Somehow he found his way back to it, however.  
  
"Mokuba...you can tell me the truth...your brother didn't want us to know, did he? Is THAT it, Mokuba?" Yami spoke softly.  
  
Mokuba's face gave the impression that he was about to defend his brother once again, but he caught Yami's gaze. [Ieyre: Yami is a child abuser! DIIIIE! *cough* um...sorry about that...]  
  
"Yes...Seto always says...he says that when you tell people you're...an orphan...they pity you. People think you are weak...parentless, unable to do something right just because you have no parents! People feel sorry for orphans, Yugi! Weakness is something my big brother fears above all others...he wants to prove that he's strong, able to take care of himself ever since..." Mokuba suddenly blanched as if he had said something he had meant not to. He had poured out his heart to Yugi, said things that he had wanted to say for so long...but had never had the courage to. And in his speech he had slipped up.  
  
"Since what, Mokuba?" asked Bakura urgently.  
  
"Yeah Mokuba, what?" repeated Joey.  
  
Mokuba turned away from them all, clutching the locket around his neck.  
  
"I can't...I can't tell you! That would be giving away our biggest family secre-" He slipped up again in anger.  
  
"What secret? Mokuba, please, tell me...I want to help you." Yami's eyes had softened again.  
  
"Yugi...I can't tell you...I was very young. I don't remember everything. If you really want to know...you're going to have to persuade Seto to tell you." Mokuba had a grave look on his face.  
  
Adele was standing, dumbfounded, next to them all, not truly understanding what they were talking about.  
  
"Mokuba...when you say Seto do you mean MY Seto?" She asked finally, to everyone else's surprise.   
  
Mokuba smiled brightly again.  
  
"Yes, Addy! Seto and I both found a home together. We're not apart and we never will be!"  
  
"So, the Tyzaki brothers finally found their 'home together', aye? I knew Seto would never leave that orphanage without you. He was so stubborn...when all those parents saw how bright he was..."  
  
Mokuba lowered his eyes again.  
  
/Did she say...Tyzaki?/  
  
//Yes Yugi...I don't know what she meant...//  
  
Joey was confused. Oooooo, big surprise, there.  
  
"Wait a minute...I don't understand! What'ya mean by MY Seto? An' Tyzaki...what-"  
  
Mokuba's eyes widened and he pointed behind them all.  
  
"Guys...I think you're about to find out..."  
  
A long smooth black limousine pulled up in front of the deserted arcade.  
  
//Seto Kaiba's got some things to answer to...and I think that we're about to find out what they are, Yugi.//  
  
****************************  
  
Ieyre: Okay, that was probably pretty confusing, I know. So, I'll just condense it for your enjoyment:  
  
So, Mokuba meets Adele. But NOT for the first time. It seems she was at the same Orphanage as him and Seto, and was very close to hie, judging by the affection. And *gasp* Yugi and co. find out that the Kaiba brothers' are orphans! They should already know it, but they're all thick anyway, at least in this story. So Yami comes out to interrogate Mokuba about why he kept it a secret from them. Yami had guessed that Seto had had something to do with Mokuba's secret, as Mokuba is not afraid to go to him and Yugi and they're friends for help. Mokuba VERY reluctantly admits that his brother told him not to tell anyone because he believes being an orphan shows weakness and he wants no pity. Well, that's what Seto TOLD him; that doesn't mean he was necessarily thinking it.  
So than, surprisingly enough, Adele asks Mokuba if they are all referring to "her" Seto, and he begins to reply about how they had FINALLY found a home together. Joey wants some answers about the whole thing, and guess what should happen to pull up? Why, the Kaiba corp. company limo. What a koinky-dink. So, maybe Yami will FINALLY find out all the junk he wants to know about Kaiba...I guess we'll just have to wait and see, won't we?   
Yami Ieyre: That was really bad, you do realize that, don't you?  
Ieyre: Yes, I'm aware. This is kinda rushed, sorry, it's just that I really want to write some good chapters for the memories part (You'll find out what that is later ^-^), so I need to pump these babies out! I'm not going to post the other, GOOD chapters until I get some feedback. So, R&R if you want some more of the sex god (Seto-kun). Buh-bye!  
Yami Ieyre: Bye, stupid mortal girls...Who else would be reading this drivel, anyway? 


	3. Pity

Ieyre: Wowzer! I got some reviews!  
Yami Ieyre: Yeah, I know it's amazing, but do you have to use the expression "wowzer"? You know it upsets me.  
Ieyre: O_o Wowzer?  
Yami Ieyre: *solemn face* Yes. "Wowzer".  
Ieyre: Okay..................ANYWAY, I appreciate all the feedback an' stuff. Thanks to those who reviewed again (and those who posted their first reviews). To answer your question,?,(What was your name? I'm sorry, was it Lynn?) I really don't know if Yugi and co. knows the Kaiba brothers are orphans, if they do they've never mentioned it before (You would THINK they would ask about their past -_-), in my mind they don't know. If the real story is different, please inform. Now, to the disclaimer!  
  
Disclaimer: Tristan: Hi, I'm Tristan Taylor, here to tell you about Vegemite! This delicious goo originates from the continent of Austra- *squints at cue card* Wait a second-I thought this was a disclaimer for Ieyre! Yugi, why is there junk about Vegemite on that thing?!  
Yugi: Beats me.  
Joey: *Whistles "innocently"*  
Seto: Wheeler, did you switch the cue cards again???  
Joey: Uhhhhhhhhh...no...*Eyes shift from side to side*  
Seto: Why you little-* Runs after him, crashing into Tea and Bakura, who randomly fight*  
Yami Ieyre: I love mayhem ^_^  
Ieyre: Okay, here's the question- Does Ieyre own Yu-Gi-Oh! ? The answer- Who would want to own these insane characters?  
Yami Ieyre: Um...can we get to the story???  
Ieyre: Sorry, had to add a bit off random humor cause this story isn't that funny. To the fic!  
  
******************  
  
Seto Kaiba sat in the back of his limousine, cursing his own incompetence. At approximately 4 a.m. that morning he had fallen asleep at his computer...he had woken up in his little underground lab at about 10 a.m., screwing up his entire schedule! Mokuba had simply ordered the chauffeur to drive him to school at 8 o'clock ...it was remarkable how he could take charge when his elder brother was-er-incapacitated. Mokuba didn't want to wake his beloved big brotherm after all.   
  
//Stupid, pathetic excuse for a learning establishment...why do I even have to go???//  
  
He decided to skip, which really didn't matter anyway. Seto Kaiba had perfect attendance; one day wouldn't hurt his record.  
Seto went directly to the office because he had PLANNED on getting in an hour of work and a meeting before school, which couldn't be avoided. He needed that partnership! It would push Kaiba corp. stock off the charts!  
Now he was just annoyed in general...he needed someone to insult. What a shame Wheeler was nowhere in sight.  
  
//Well...at least I got an extra meeting and 1 1/2 hours of work in. Maybe Mokuba and I can do something tonight...wonder what he'd want to do?//  
  
Seto smiled slightly at the thought of his little brother's excitement after hearing the news...he could picture Mokuba now...innocent eyes wide with anticipation.  
"What, Seto? You don't need to work tonight?" A smile would grow over his little face. "Can we go somewhere, Seto? Please? Canwecanwecanwepleasepleaseplease??"  
Seto's smile slowly turned into a frown...Mokuba's admiration of him was for naught...  
  
//If Mokuba could only see what I've become...it's almost as if he's blind to it. It's a good thing I work so much...perhaps my 'qualities' aren't rubbing off on him...//  
  
Seto's mind jumped to when Mokuba had coldly ordered the chauffeur to take him to school, and of his recent blunt attitude toward the maids and cook in their home. Obvious imitations of the illustrious original.  
  
//Then again...maybe not.//  
  
At that thought, his face became expressionless once again.  
  
********************  
  
The limo pulled in front of the arcade, where Mokuba had called from 15 minutes before, asking for a ride home.  
Seto stared out the dark windows at the front of the building [Ieyre: That weird spider one from the "Johnny Steps" episode.]  
  
//Wait a second...is that Yugi?//  
  
He muttered something under his breath with the distinct words "defeat", "duel", and "title". He shook his head and brushed away the thought.  
  
//No...I do owe Yugi something. Even though he defeated me, he did teach me about the...the 'Heart of the Cards', I suppose. Luckily he'll never know I even believe in such a ridiculous thing. I've got my reputation the keep, after all...//  
  
The long car pulled up onto the curb.  
  
********************  
  
All eyes were on the back door of the limo. The chauffeur stepped out of the driver's side and approached Mokuba.  
  
"Sir, Mr. Kaiba's in the back seat," it was hard to tell because of the heavily tinted windows. "He's going back to the Kaiba corp. building, but he said if you need a ride to the mansion we'll drop you off."  
  
Mokuba looked back at Yami, who nodded and turned back into Yugi.  
  
"Tell...tell Seto that if he wants to take me home, he'll have to come out and get me."  
  
The chauffeur started at Mokuba's dangerous voice, so like his elder brother's. It was almost...uncanny.  
  
"Yes, Young Master Mokuba" [Ieyre: Sounds like something Crochet would say to Pegasus when he was like, 10 or something, I know. 'Young Master Pegasus']"...I'll tell him."  
  
The chauffeur stepped back into the car, muttered something through the glass, nodded, and got out again.  
The chauffeur [Okay, I'm naming him! How about...Bill!], who's name was BILL, walked toward the back door, elegantly, and opened it.  
Seto Kaiba stepped out.  
  
*************************  
  
Seto walked up to Mokuba, sternly.  
  
//He probably wants me to say 'hi' to Yugi and his friends...THAT'S why he wanted me to step out.//  
  
"Seto, I-" Mokuba started nervously.  
  
"Mokuba, what is it?" Seto snapped, irritably. "I have a meeting in a half hour-" He glanced behind Yugi and co, as if he had just noticed them. Adele was behind Joey, concealing her.  
  
"Hello Yugi." He said emotionlessly. He turned back to Mokuba. "Now why did you-" Seto glanced back at Yugi and stopped short.  
Yugi Muto was staring at him.  
Seto's eyes traveled from face to face. Bakura, Tea, Tristan, and Joey were all staring at him.  
"What???? What are you all staring at???" He demanded. No one responded.  
//What the hell...what are they looking at?//  
He turned top face Joey.  
//Well, I know one way to get a reaction...//  
  
"What are you looking at, Wheeler?" He put on his famous 'I love to taunt Joey' smirk. No response. Seto was amazed. "What's wrong with you? You got worms or something? Did you play fetch in the park with Taylor to long?" Seto was sure he would get poorly assaulted or insulted at any second.  
Joey stared. Not moving, not speaking. He simply shook his head at Seto, silently.  
//I recognize that look...Wheeler's showing me...me..." Seto was in a delirious state of disbelief.  
  
//Pity...//  
  
#FLASHBACK#  
  
Two old women were whispering to each other in the long hall, unaware of the small boy eavesdropping.  
  
"Oh yes...those two boys' father just passed away in a car accident...what a pity..."   
  
#FLASHBACK#  
  
"Oh Seto...you and Mokuba are my best friends in the whole world...I never want to leave you two!" The little girl with bright brown eyes began to cry. "Especially...especially not you, Seto..." She looked up into his sad blue eyes "I wish they would take some pity on me!"  
  
#FLASHBACK#  
  
The man held his hand back, carefully aiming the blow.  
  
"Remember boy...show no weakness!"  
  
He struck with all his might.  
  
As the room began to spin and darken, the cruel voice washed over him once again.  
  
"And expect no pity from anyone...those who need pity are weak...that is your first lesson...never forget that!"  
  
#END FLASHBACK#  
  
"Pity..." he said aloud, softly.  
  
That same little girl who asked for pity pushed her way past Joey and to her best friend, once, always, and forever.  
  
"Seto...it's me."  
  
He lowered his eyes to meet her brown ones, unchanged by 6 years...still innocent, yet wise...charming, yet...sorrowful. No, not sorrowful. Not when she laid eyes on him.  
  
"Yes, Adele...I know. I've finally found you." He stepped closer and they embraced in all sincerity and care. It was not the first time.   
  
Nor would it be the last.  
  
*************************  
  
Ieyre: *cries* That was sooooooo sweet...sorry it kinda took longer to post than the rest of the chappies, but it was longer and had more depth.  
Yami Ieyre: I'm sorry, but that was a bit TOO tidy. I thought Kaiba was like a power-hungry freak...but suddenly he gets all sentimental! What's up with that???  
Ieyre: This story isn't over yet...all will be reveled next chapter! Well, not ALL, but some. Every chapter more is reveled, as you might have noticed...well, gotta post, so I'll say bye! 


	4. How we've changed

Ieyre: Wow...reviews rock! Were almost in double digits, here!  
Yami Ieyre: I'm not going to bother. It's just too easy.  
Ieyre: *glares*  
Yami Ieyre: *snickers*  
Ieyre: ANYWAY...thanks to everyone who's reviewed so far, I really appreciate it. The support you've given me motivates each new chapter's material.  
Yami Ieyre: In other words: if you want a new chapter of this garbage then all you have to do is write some really long suck-up praisy review.  
Ieyre: *glares*  
Yami Ieyre: What?  
Ieyre: *glares*  
Yami Ieyre: ...........  
Ieyre: *has glared so much that she can no longer glare*  
Yami Ieyre: Um...Yeah. I'm just gonna start this. So, the Disclaimer-  
  
Disclaimer: Voice in background: Come on! Do I havta' do this?  
Some other voice in background: Yes, now get out there!  
VIB: This is humiliating....okay...*walks on*  
*is Joey wearing doggy suit that I find really cute* Ieyre does not own Yu-Gi-Oh!, however, she does own..........meinthispuppysuitand- KAIBA in a BEWD suit, which conveniently enough, he doesn't have to wear in this disclaimer! Hey, how come Kaiba doesn't have to wear HIS suit???  
Yami Ieyre: Because the entire purpose of these disclaimers is to torture you, smart one. Now, sit down and shut up!  
Joey: *is afraid*  
Ieyre: *still trying to glare* .......*failing*  
Yami Ieyre: Okay...to the story...  
  
**********************************  
  
"Seto...Seto-kun..." Adele sobbed into Seto's chest, not unlike what Mokuba had been doing to her, only minutes before.   
Seto cradled her softly, with a look strangely familiar.   
  
/Yami...Kaiba looks like-/  
  
//-How he looked during our second duel. Yes Yugi...once again, he's in another world.//  
  
Seto looked down at Adele's graceful figure in his arms.  
  
//She hasn't changed much...even her tears are the same...//  
  
#FLASHBACK#  
  
A small brown-haired girl runs up to a little brunette boy. In her tattered dress, she holds something. She is sobbing.  
His large blue eyes alight with concern.  
  
"Adele...what's wrong?"  
  
"S-s-s-set-o-o...those big mean boys broke my doll!" She looks down at the ground, moping. "I wish you were there-you would have stood up to them!"  
  
The boy fixedly stares at her, his cerulean eyes narrowing, temper flaring up. He is evidently and obviously one of determination and spirit, the eyes show it clearly.  
Controlling himself, he closes his eyes and breaths deeply, fists clenched in anger. He opens his eyes and sighs, defeated at last.  
  
"Adele...may I see your doll?"  
  
Curiously, she holds out her doll sniffling a little. The boy examines it carefully, then holds it out to her.  
  
"There's no way to fix this toy, I'm afraid the plastic itself has snapped."  
  
She nods forcefully.  
  
"Adele...you can have..." She blinks at him. "...Have my toy."  
  
She swiftly looks up from the destroyed doll she cradles in her arms.  
  
"Really?" she says, wiping her eyes.  
  
"Really." He replies firmly. He takes out the small electronic device. "I made it myself...here, take it. I let Mokuba use it all the time.  
  
"Oh, Seto, thank you so much!"  
  
She hugs him quickly, and, much to his surprise and delight plants a small kiss on his cheek.  
  
"Seto, you're my best friend. You always will be."  
  
#END FLASHBACK#  
  
//Adele...you haven't changed. But I have...far too much...//  
  
****************************  
  
Adele separated herself from Seto, once again calm and controlled. Stepping back, she surveyed him closely for the first time since their meeting.  
  
"Seto-" she gasped, just now noticing. "You've grown so tall!"   
  
Indeed, he towered over her by a good half a foot, at least. He also had resumed his usual stance, non-emotional. She failed to notice it at the moment.  
  
"Kaiba...what's going on?" Yugi and co., who had remained silent for quite some time, were ready for some answers. Why had this boy, whom they had known for so long -known and disliked- but still, why had he kept it from them that he was an orphan? Was he ashamed? Did he think they didn't care at ALL about his welfare? How had his parents died? Who adopted him? And most importantly, how did he know Adele, their new, semi-distant, classmate?  
  
"Yugi..." Seto started, cracking slightly.  
  
" Seto Kaiba." Yugi summoned his Yami who stared down the tall boy with an unnerving look. "Kaiba, your brother has just told me the truth of you two. You are an orphan, then?"  
  
Seto glanced at his little brother.  
  
"Yes Yugi. I am."  
  
Yami's look softened at Seto's hard glare.  
  
"Kaiba...why did you never mention this to me? You know in your heart that me, and the others, would show only sympathy towards you. Why then, Kaiba?"  
  
Seto stared back into those eyes, the crimson eyes that he had started into so often during his duels with their owner. They appeared to look into his very soul...  
Joey, Tea, Tristan, and Bakura all moved into the circle as well. 7 sets of eyes rested upon the CEO.  
  
"I assumed you didn't care. I am, after all, no friend of yours, Yugi. I am but a rival duelist. My welfare, I believe, means very little to you. Therefore, does not my past?" Seto spoke with an edge of malice and bitterness in his voice.  
  
Mokuba walked over to his elder brother eyes raised and with an almost sober look.  
  
"Seto...don't you understand? Yugi and everyone else only want to be your friends, Seto. I care about you...and you know they do too..."  
Seto didn't respond. He turned from the group and glared at the cement stubbornly.  
  
"Seto Kaiba!" Tea snapped at his back. "You turn around right now!" Though most of the time, Tea appeared mild-mannered, Seto Kaiba had always brought out the righteous part of her personality.  
Even Seto could not refuse her tone of voice and manner. He, glaring some more at the lot of them (Excluding Mokuba and Adele, who appeared lost in her own thoughts anyway), spun around to face them. His stubbornness was no match for her uncanny ability to reveal the truth in her words. He remembered well what she had said at Duelist's Kingdom after he defeated Yugi by risking his own life on the match...oh so well...  
  
#FLASHBACK#  
  
"The game? Yugi may have lost one lousy Duel Monsters game, but at least he hasn't lost his heart! Not like you, SETO KAIBA! You've spent so much time around your machines, you've forgotten what being human is about!"  
  
//Silly, foolish, girl...you don't know how right you are...//  
  
"Yugi has a heart, Kaiba. Yugi has friends that will stick with him whether he wins or looses some lousy game. And what do you have, Seto Kaiba? What do you have at the end of the day? Tell me! TELL ME!"  
  
//Now...very little. Only Mokuba. And if I had lost this game...I would have lost him as well! Then there would have been no point in living...//  
  
"I have all that I need!"  
  
#END FLASHBACK#  
  
"Fine, Tea...if you and your friends truly care..." he paused and glared slightly at them all. "Then get in the limo. It'll drive us home where we can...discuss...this turn of events." He gestured to Adele.  
  
Surprised, they all complied quickly.  
  
//I could not keep it a secret much longer...Adele...I never imagined to see you again! Your presence here is uncanny...perhaps fate has intervened...no, there's no such thing! It's purely...//  
  
He glanced over at her fair face in the limousine.  
  
//A blessing...//  
  
************************  
  
Ieyre: *is sick* Being sick sucks!  
Yami Ieyre: *grins* Especially on a weekend...  
Ieyre: Funny...well, as it's appropriate...HAPPY BIRTHDAY BROOD! Consider this my present to you (I was going to get you "Forbidden Memories"...but, no. How the heck would I send it??? Plus, isn't "Fu-Fu-Chaco-Taco" getting it for you?) Hope it was one of your BETTER gifts. Hey, can you drive now? Another crappy 2 years till' I can even start learning...life bites!  
Yami Ieyre: Well, *I* can drive.  
Ieyre: .................Let's not even go there...  
Yami Ieyre: Hey, I only ran over 5 pedestrians!  
Ieyre: 7, actually. Well, I guess I'd better go, on this happy note. Hope you all enjoyed this, I really felt that that was Tea's finest hour. She spoke quite a bit of truth, she actually showed spunk. I thought that was pretty cool ^_^ I actually memorized her line, from watching it over and over and over...that's one of my favorite episodes, you know.  
Yami Ieyre: It was 5, I tell you! 5!!!  
Ieyre: Suuuuuure it was. Well, later guys! Review review review! 


	5. I hate you

Ieyre: YAY...chapter 5.  
Yami Ieyre: *Does not care*  
Ieyre: *ignores* Well, hope you all had a good Christmas and New year...I just went out and blew some of my money on the "Music to Duel By" CD!  
Yami Ieyre: O_o  
Ieyre: Man..."Face up, Face down" is creepy...that's Pegasus' solo...  
Yami Ieyre: ............I thought that was funny!  
Ieyre: -_- You would. Now, to the chapter!  
  
Disclaimer: Joey: You know the drill. Ieyre does not own us.  
  
********************  
  
//I can't believe what I'm doing...inviting Yugi and his friends over...what was I thinking? And Adele...why did I?// Seto thought as the limousine sped on. Glancing to his right, his fierce gaze intensified. He had held Adele...but only out of pure shock and almost...out of reaction. He had, not ten minutes before, in his own thoughts, called her a blessing. Now, ten minutes later...he remembered. Remembered something else of Adele. Something that had caused him so much pain...he hated her for it...  
  
//Adele...I can't believe what I just...I held you! After what you did! I trusted you...you betrayed Mokuba and me. He may have forgiven you for it...but I never will. Trust...ha! I was shown long ago that trust is nothing more than a lie...// His anger seethed. She would pay for what she had done. One way...or another...  
  
At the other end of the long car, someone else was in deep thought.  
  
/Yami, what do you suppose all this means?/ Yugi asked his other half curiously.  
  
//...//  
  
/Yami?/  
  
//Yugi...// The spirit began, //...I think that there is more to Kaiba than you or I had thought...for one, did you know he was an orphan?//  
  
/Well, I knew he had no parents...I guess I assumed that his mother and father had died of old age and left him the Kaiba corporation...I never knew he and Mokuba grew up in an orphanage.../  
  
//Why did he never tell us?//  
  
/You heard him. He said he thought we didn't care./  
  
//Oh, I heard him. I just don't believe him. He's smart enough to know that we'd be interested.//  
  
/Adele seems to know...someone different than we do. The way she spoke to him...it's pretty apparent that they were close./  
  
//I find it difficult to see Seto Kaiba show affection to someone besides Mokuba...he did take Adele in his arms, though...however...I think perhaps...only she shows affection...//  
  
/Do you think...was Kaiba's hug and words sincere?/  
  
//They were not the same thing that Kaiba shows Mokuba...they seemed...almost hollow.//  
  
/Then...what's Kaiba's..."angle"?/  
  
//Only he can truly answer THAT question...//  
  
/Yes, you're right...Yami, what did Adele mean by Tyzaki?/  
  
//I'm...I'm not sure...perhaps that is a name that Mokuba and Kaiba went under...but why wouldn't they keep it? That makes little sense.//  
  
/None of this makes any sense. Like, WHY DID KAIBA invite us to his HOME?? He's the last person I would've thought.../  
  
//As I said before, Seto Kaiba is one of much secrecy...//  
  
/I hope...I hope he opens up to us, soon./  
  
//Only time will tell, aibou. Only time will tell.//  
  
**********************  
  
After an uncomfortable silence, the car finally pulled up in front of the enormous Kaiba mansion.  
  
"Seto...Seto, is this your house?" Adele asked in awe.  
  
"Yes. It is." He replied, unemotionally.   
  
"WOW! You really scored big, didn't you, "nii-sama"?" She giggled. "I can't wait to meet your adopted parents! They must be really rich for you to have a huge house like this!"  
  
Yugi, Tea, Joey, Bakura, Tristan, and Mokuba all stared at Seto, waiting for a reaction. His eyes narrowed spitefully at the air in front of him.  
  
"Adele. Listen, I've got some things to tell you-" The elder Kaiba scowled. "And I need to tell Yugi and his friends some things. In my office. It's on the top floor, follow me."   
  
Seto quickly unlocked his door and beckoned for them to follow him. A few maids bowed respectfully as they passed.  
  
"Here is my office. There are enough chairs for everyone." The teens and small boy all piled into the spacious office. Mokuba had been silent for the whole car trip. Lost in his own thoughts, he finally snapped back into reality and sat down. Worry shown in his eyes as he fixed his gaze upon Adele.  
  
Joey looked truly confused at the whole business. Why had Kaiba invited everyone to his home? Seto Kaiba, he thought, absolutely loathed Yugi and all of Yugi's friends.   
And why was Kaiba, who had been gently holding Adele but minutes before now glaring at her with ferocity? What secrets about his life had he not told them still? Why had he kept from them that he was adopted?  
  
"First off. Adele..." Seto started briskly, eyeing her with a hint of malice. Adele had begun to notice how he was glaring at her and uncomfortably squirmed in her seat.  
  
"Seto, why aren't you excited to see me? You seem...different. What's wrong, Seto-kun, my "nii-sama"? Aren't you the same?"  
  
He continued glaring.  
  
"What's wrong??? Tell me, SETO TYZAKI!" She stood up, yelling furiously across the table.  
  
"That's just it, Adele Sinclair. There is no Seto Tyzaki."  
  
Adele sat down again slowly.  
  
"What do you mean, 'there is no Seto Tyzaki'?"  
  
"Seto Tyzaki died long ago, Adele. He and I are very, VERY different. In fact..." He paused again, spitting out every syllable. "You have never met me, Adele. You have never met...Seto Kaiba."  
  
Adele nearly fell over in shock. She had not heard Yugi or any of his friends refer to Seto as "Kaiba" [Ieyre: She was "lost in her own thoughts", remember?], so his words were sharp and new on her ears.  
  
"Kaiba...as in the huge computer company?"  
  
He nodded, simply.  
  
"Does that mean...your adopted father owns that huge company?"  
  
For some reason, Seto Kaiba blanched at her statement and narrowed his eyes in anger. Across the table, Mokuba shivered slightly. No one noticed except Yugi, who observed with worry and puzzlement.  
  
"No...Adele, *I* own the company."  
  
Adele nearly fell over again. Was her old friend from orphanage days out of his mind?   
  
"WHAT??? Seto, how could you own a company? You're only 16!"  
  
"I told you, Adele Sinclair. I've changed. I am not he same as I once was."  
  
Adele was still shaking with disbelief. What was he talking about? Where was the charming, sweet, and caring boy that had always held a place in her heart. She still held the gift he had given her so long ago...  
  
#FLASHBACK#  
  
"Here Adele...you can have MY toy!"  
  
"Oh Seto...you're the best friend ever!  
  
#END FLASHBACK#  
  
"But Seto..." Adele began, reasonably. "No one can change THAT much. And especially not you."  
  
"I did." Was his cold response. "Now...Yugi. I asked you to come here for a reason, you know. I imagine...I imagine you and your friends should like some sort of explanation for all of this." The elder Kaiba had retained a business like attitude. "As you and your friends have known me long enough for us to be considered...somewhat more than "casual acquaintances"...you probably care about the fact that I never really told you of my past. Mokuba's past."  
  
Yugi nodded, looking past Seto at Adele, eyes full of tears.  
  
"I'll explain it to you..." Seto stopped short and turned to Adele once again. Now tears were falling softly from her eyes.  
  
"Adele...when all of this is over..." He stuttered slightly.  
  
//She looks so sad...how can I...? NO! No, Kaiba, remember what she did to you and Mokuba! She betrayed you both! For that...I will give no mercy.//  
  
Even Seto Kaiba was struggling to do what his ruthless business 'Kaiba' side longed for. Very forcibly, he choked out the words.  
  
"You betrayed me, Adele...you left us there...at that horrible place...and so..."  
  
She looked up at him with her large brown eyes.  
  
"After this is all over...I never want to see you again."  
  
***********************************  
  
Ieyre: *tears in eyes*  
Yami Ieyre: What the hell???? First he was cold, then, good, now he's evil again??? What the hell is up with that???  
Ieyre: Someone said they thought Seto was OOC...I hope that was in character enough for them ^_^  
Yami Ieyre: This is becoming really angsty...personally, I've never seen you write such serious stuff. This is a whole new side of your writing...  
Ieyre: This story really isn't making any sense...Seto was first hugging her and then hating her...I hope that you all won't abandon this because of Seto's meanness or the apparent "plot holes". There was a reason that Seto first acted as though he cared for Adele...and she calls him "nii-sama" because that was her pet name for him at the orphanage, FYI. He treated her like a older brother (he's a year older than her)  
Yami Ieyre: These characters are going through some serious emotional roller-coasting here.  
Ieyre: NEXT CHAPTER: How did Adele betray Seto and Mokuba? We will see... Also-Seto refuses to tell the gang why he became the way he his...so Yami decides that, "for Kaiba's own good", that if he won't tell...the Millennium Puzzle shall reveal! R&R guys, see you next chapter!  
Yami Ieyre: Assuming you read it. Well...bye-bye! 


	6. Checkmate

Ieyre: Hello my faithful readers ^_^ Sorry it's been SOOOOO long since I updated, I have been going through depression and writer's block, plus I was working on a contest fic which took up some of my time (I won third place! Joy for me, considering it was so bad I wasn't even expecting to PLACE). After 2 months of reflection, I decided to change what I said last chapter about THIS chapter, because it just didn't work...so this chapter is ever so slightly different from what I said it would be in my last update. I would also just like to say that I appreciate all the reviews and I'm glad you're all enjoying the ficcy...which, coincidentally, is my most successful ever ^_~  
Yami Ieyre: Well THAT'S a high standard.  
Ieyre: Grrrrrrrr.... and I would also like to thank you all for putting up with my psychopathic Yami because I know she can get annoyingly bitchy at times. In conclusion-  
Yami Ieyre: HEY!  
Ieyre: *sighs* Sorry, Yami.  
Yami Ieyre: It's okay, hikari, I forgive your rudeness...hey, ya know what sucks? All these stupid airhead anime character guys have millions of screaming, idiotic fan girls, and I ain't got nothing'! Not a single fan! What's up with that?  
Ieyre: You can't think of even ONE?  
Yami Ieyre: Maybe Zutso-kun...yeah...  
Ieyre: *laughs hysterically* Zutsokaki...yeah right...*continues evil mean laughter* HAHAHA...good one...! *even more evil laughter*   
Yami Ieyre: *lip trembles* Zutsokaki doesn't like me? *runs off to bathroom crying*  
Ieyre: *stops laughing and realizes what a damn b**** she's being [I really just wanna diss myself today...don't ask.]*...no, wait....Yami.....I was just kidding, honest.......oh, sorry guys, I guess I better start the fic and comfort Yami while you read it...   
  
Disclaimer: READ THE FIRST 5 CHAPTERS!  
  
*********************  
  
"Seto..." Adele's eyes widened in horror "Seto...you don't mean that..."  
  
"I do." Was his icy response. "With all my heart."  
  
"..." Water raised to the surface in the form of soft, warm tears and quiet, gentle sobbing. Everyone in the room stopped.  
  
Silence.  
  
*SLAP!*  
  
"SETO KAIBA! How could you say such a thing?!"  
  
Seto staggered. The slap hadn't hurt (much), but the outburst had surprised him. Her, of all people...  
  
"I asked a question, Kaiba! I want an answer!" Tea glared angrily at the boy-billionaire, fists clenched. He stared at her in shock, momentarily speechless.  
  
"Seto...why?" Mokuba was on the verge of tears. "Why? WHY???"  
  
Joey, Tristan, and Bakura rushed to aid Adele, who was sobbing quietly into her hands. Her long strands of hair and fallen, concealing her tear-stained face.  
  
"You don't understand..." He hissed. "What do you know of pain? Of loss? Of the REAL world?"  
  
Tea's eyes softened slowly at the look of pain on his face.  
  
"We can't ALL live in a world of SUNSHINE and DAISIES, Tea." He continued, spitefully. "There is...hurt, there is hatred, there is...betrayal."  
  
Adele looked up at him in mute shock.  
  
"Seto...you don't think I...*I* betrayed you, do you?" asked Adele, eyes shining.  
  
Seto faltered for a split second, and nodded.  
  
"...Seto...why...? When did I...?"  
  
"You left us." He spat, venomously. "You left us in that...that HELL HOLE to rot."   
  
She teared up again.  
  
"...You think I had a CHOICE?" She wailed. "You know I didn't want to! They forced me to go! Since we weren't blood relatives I wasn't allowed...I   
couldn't...please, Seto, please...you know deep down I didn't want to go...you never blamed me THEN!"  
  
She had now been reduced to pathetic, wailing sobs. Seto was having an internal battle with himself...  
  
//She's so...unhappy...does she really care so much for us...? Could I have been wrong...no! I have seen her likes before...I have been deceived before...life has taught me not to trust...//  
  
Yugi and his friends looked on to the scene anxiously. Adele crying, Kaiba looking so...torn...and Mokuba, so very...young.  
  
"S-s-s-seto? P-p-p-p-please, answer..."  
  
Seto's eyes widened. His brother. Adele. Yugi-tachi. Everything was so complicated...one side of him was winning...then the other...until...  
  
"STOP CRYING, YOU FOOLISH GIRL!" He screamed at her, blue eyes flashing in an unnatural way, unlike his own. "Your crying will get you no sympathy...tears are for the weak...the weak like yo-"  
  
He froze.  
  
//No...NO! I have become him...//  
  
#FLASHBACK#  
  
A single tear ran down his cheek...  
  
"Ah...crying, our we?"  
  
He looked down at the floor, trying to conceal it.  
  
"You think you can hide from me? Lift your head, look at me."  
  
He trembled slightly.  
  
"I told you to FACE ME boy! Now do so...or face a far worse consequence..."  
  
He lifted his face slowly, fear in his eyes.  
  
"Here me, boy...your crying will get you no sympathy. Tears are for the WEAK!" He struck the buy across the face, harshly. "The weak...LIKE YOU!"  
  
It all turned black.  
  
#END FLASHBACK#  
  
//...He has gotten what he desired...I am his perfect heir now, his protégé...there is nothing human within me...how could I have been so blind to the truth...all when I thought I was going against him...it was all part of his lessons, everything...//  
  
The room was silent for a long moment.  
  
"He's won, Mokuba."  
  
********************  
  
Mokuba slowly walked over to Adele and raised her off the floor, to her and the five teens surprise. He turned to his brother.  
  
"He's won." Seto repeated, hollowly. "All when I thought my rook had won the game..." Seto trailed off. "...He had a knight in waiting..." He smiled bitterly at his own metaphorical comparison of chess.  
  
Yugi, Joey, Tea, Tristan, Adele and Bakura stared. Mokuba, seeming to understand, timidly approached his brother.  
  
"Seto...it's not over yet..."  
  
"Mokuba, after checkmate...he's won..." Seto spoke with a sort of lost hope in his voice.  
  
"But Seto..." Mokuba stepped aside to reveal Adele. Seto looked upon her as if he had forgotten she was there.  
  
"Adele! Oh, Adele...Addy..."  
  
Adele looked up at him with surprise.  
  
"What...what did you call me?" She whispered.  
  
"Addy...it's you're name, isn't it? Addy Sinclair..."  
  
She ran to embrace him once again, but stopped short at the sight of his face.  
  
"Adele...don't...please don't."  
  
She gave him a half-hurt, half-perplexed look.  
  
"But...why not...Seto-kun, why not?"  
  
"Because...I'm not human. He's won...he..." Seto turned away. "You're not fit to...you're too good...and I'm too..."  
  
"Too...what? And who's...who's 'he'?" Adele asked.  
  
Yugi, Joey, Tristan, Tea, and Bakura were still puzzled and a little alarmed by the situation. It seemed as if Kaiba was giving up...not on them, Adele, the company, or beating Yugi...he was giving up on himself.  
  
"I know it wasn't your fault, Adele...I see that now...you, you...wouldn't have left us for anything..." He sat down with a defeated look. "There's nothing left, now...Mokuba..." His blank blue eyes suddenly widened with realization. "Mokuba...he threw the game! He could've won, I remember now!"  
  
Mokuba turned to face him in shock.  
  
"Seto, you can't start thinking things like that now! Big brother, please..." Mokuba pleaded.  
  
"Yes, yes...I remember there was only...was it...five pieces...? Five left and then-" He turned around in his seat to face Mokuba. "-Then he...he could've moved his...his bishop...and it would've been check...checkmate..."  
  
"Seto...why would he have...thrown it...all that would have been accomplished would be..." His gray eyes also widened. "...No...he couldn't have...have done it to...to use me to...hurt you?"  
  
"Yes, Mokuba. That was his intention."  
  
Mokuba turned away, shaking slightly with the weight of tears, the weight of a thousand nights of worrying...  
  
"...And?"  
  
One eye peeked behind his shoulder at his elder brother.  
  
"And it worked."  
  
***************  
  
Yugi stepped forward timidly to the shocked Adele, the saddened Mokuba, and the seemingly defeated Seto Kaiba. He and his group of friends all had the same questions running through their minds. Who really was Adele Sinclair? How did she know the Kaiba brothers so well? Why did she seem to feel such strong love for the seemingly cold-hearted Seto Kaiba?  
As for he himself...why had he shone such contempt for Adele... what had caused him change? What had snapped within his desolate soul and hardened heart to cause him to break down so...?  
These mysteries had even intrigued their minds to wonder other things...they never questioned the Kaiba brothers past before...why had they never wondered? Why had it never occurred to this group of loving, caring young people that the beginnings of a boy can shape the man he becomes and that the worst pain of all...is the loss of those closest to us...that nothing can be compared to and looked upon so as a boy, forced to grow up to fast...?  
It had never occurred to them because the one called Seto Kaiba chose not to tell people of him...his feelings, his emotions...all had been kept bottled up so long that the want for friends...for someone to look to...they had been lost forever...  
  
Seto looked up at Yugi forlornly as he approached. The short, timid boy immediately transformed into his dark half, the former Pharaoh and King of Games, Yami Yugi Mouto.  
  
"Kaiba...please tell us...you must know that you can always come to us for help..."  
  
"Yeah, Kaiba...listen ta' Yami...you know we're there for ya'." Tristan and Bakura stared openly in surprise at Joey, who glared back at them.  
  
"Please Kaiba...please listen to us." Tea pleaded with the emotionless billionaire.  
  
"...It...it's too late now..."   
  
Yami's eyes narrowed at his rival, seemingly misunderstanding what he said.  
  
"Kaiba, do you mean what I think you mean? Does this mean you've..." He softened his tone. "...Given up on yourself...?"  
  
He didn't respond at first...he seemed in his own world...  
  
"Mokuba..." Tonelessly, Seto rasped. "Please, little brother...please understand...I've failed you..."  
  
Mokuba screamed and flung himself into his elder brother, sobbing and hugging him. Seto didn't respond.  
  
"...I've become just like him."  
  
"No, Seto! No, you haven't!" Mokuba cried, shaking his brother repeatedly.  
  
"I said the exact same thing to Addy...that I promised I'd never say...I've become just like him..." He repeated.  
  
"No, Seto...NO, NII-SAMA, NO!"  
  
Everyone in the room watched as Mokuba tried desperately to shake his brother to his senses. But it was to no avail...  
  
Something had snapped in Seto Kaiba that day. Something he had heard...said, seen...something jarred a memory which in turn...  
  
He had lost the belief in himself as a good person.  
  
"Please, big brother, please, tell me you're all right!"  
  
Seto's eyes had glazed over and gave him the appearance of someone who had lost their soul...he simply sat and stared at the sight of Mokuba, Yugi-tachi, and Adele.  
  
"Mokuba...has he...?" Bakura walked slowly up to the small boy.  
  
"...I...don't know what's wrong...his heart's beating, he's still fine, but...he can't hear me..."  
  
"Hear you?" Tea asked, perplexed.  
  
"It's something weird my big brother and I do...we can always feel each other...but now...it's as if I've been cut off from him..."  
  
"No way!" Tristan exclaimed.  
  
"Yes...I think I've lost him!" Mokuba cried into his brother's shirt.  
  
All stared upon what looked to be, miraculously and strangely enough, Seto Kaiba's last hour.  
  
A tear slowly sliding down his face, Yugi looked down at his shirt and gasped...the Millennium puzzle was glowing as it had never done before! Amazed, he pointed it out to the others and came to a startling conclusion: Bakura's Millennium Ring was glowing in the same strange way!  
  
Mokuba looked up from his brother's shirt at them both, when a small voice whispered in his ear,  
  
"All is not lost for you, little one."  
  
Suddenly the room dissolved around everyone and everything went black.  
  
*****************  
  
Ieyre:...Well, we're back from the bathroom.  
Yami Ieyre: *sniffles*  
Ieyre: Aw, it's okay, Yami-chan...why don't you insult this chappy, to make you feel better?  
Yami Ieyre: I-*hiccup*-can't think of anything really WRONG with it.  
Ieyre: *surprised* Really???  
Yami Ieyre: *sniffle* Really.  
Ieyre: Wow...listen, everyone reading. I really hope you enjoyed this chapter (sorry again it took so long!)and please, please, PLEASE R&R! I need reviews DESPERATLY, and the next chapters will come along better if I get them (please nothing too harsh, I'm freakily sensitive.) Well, bye!  
Yami Ieyre: Yeah...*sniffle*...bye... 


	7. Ichikoh

Ieyre: Hey all! Just thought I'd update before I die ^_^!  
Yami Ieyre: ...That was so lame...  
Ieyre: Oh, shut up! *thwaps her Yami on the head*  
Yami Ieyre: Hey! That hurt! *mutters something with the distinct word "Kuwabara" in it. Use your imagination on this one. [I don't own Yu Yu Hukusho!]*  
Ieyre: O_O  
Yami Ieyre: Yeah, so are you gonna get this chapter started or WHAT?  
Ieyre: Oh. Right. Hey, I just realized there was no Joey torture Disclaimer last time. Guess we'll have to make up for it this time, won't we? *grins evilly*  
Yami Ieyre O_O Aibou, sometimes you disturb even ME.  
  
Disclaimer:  
*Joey and Seto come out, Joey looking really irked, Seto looking amused*  
Joey: *glares* Bark woof ruff woof bark ruff bark woof!  
Seto: *grins* Translation: Ieyre does not own Yu-Gi-Oh! Yu-Gi-Oh! Is owned by Kazuki Takahashi, Konami and 4Kids. And now I will laugh very pointedly at Joey. BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!  
Joey: SHUT UP! *lunges*  
Both: *Start kicking each other's butts*   
Ieyre: O_O I guess we'll just leave them at it, shall we?  
Yami Ieyre: *Eats some popcorn she got from no where* Ooooo...that's gotta hurt. Woah, He's gonna feel that in the morning! Looks like Kaiba's got the upper hand...no, wait, maybe Joey does-no, I take that back. Kaiba's got it under control. Come on Wheeler, fight back, you sissy!  
Ieyre: O_O  
  
************************  
  
Mokuba stirred from a very deep sleep and opened his eyes slowly. Around him, the sleeping forms of Yugi, Adele, Joey, Tea, Tristan and Bakura all slowly lifted their heads and awoke from their slumber as well.  
They were surrounded by darkness. It was a bit like being in the shadow realm, with the exception that there was no hostile aura around them. However, everyone was still a little uneasy.  
  
"Why, I thought you'd never wake up!"  
  
"GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" Joey jumped into Tristan's arms, screaming like a schoolgirl. Yugi, Adele and Mokuba all jumped and Tea and Bakura nearly fell over with shock.  
A pretty girl stood before them, a small smile on her face. Light pink hair fell to her shoulders and bright blue eyes shined under her long bangs. She was dressed in a traditional Japanese Kimono of light blue and hand on pretty sandals on her delicate feet.  
  
"Who the HECK are you??" Joey asked, rubbing his head slightly.  
  
The girl looked down, nervously.  
  
"And, come to think of it-where the HELL are we???" Joey demanded into the silence.  
  
"I...I am Ichikoh...and I'm here to help redirect you..."  
  
"Redirect us? What do you mean?" Adele asked, confused.  
  
"Well..." Ichikoh started, "You aren't supposed to be here...but somehow those Millennium Items of yours-" She gestured to Yugi and Bakura "-they somehow brought you on their own accord. However, there is nothing of great importance here, so allow me to bring you back to your own world."  
  
"But, wait...where exactly are we?" Tea asked, carefully examining the bleak surroundings.  
  
"No where." Ichikoh said with a small but tired sigh, as if her statement was not at all cryptic or seemingly impossible.  
  
"What does THAT mean?" Tristan asked with a raised eyebrow. "We can't be NO WHERE...we must be SOMEWHERE."  
  
Ichikoh sighed again, apparently loosing patience with the 6 teens and one boy.  
  
"Allow me to elaborate...you are in the abyss of a mind...there is nothing of real significance to you here..." She trailed off, looking around the darkness, "...Trust me..."  
  
"A mind?" asked Bakura, somewhat timidly.  
  
"Whose?" Mokuba cut in, very curious.  
  
"Well..." She answered. "Judging by our surroundings...someone with a very pessimistic mind..." She gave a bitter small to the encroaching black.  
  
"Why is nothing here?" asked Adele, seemingly troubled by the pressing darkness, rather then finding it petty as Ichikoh did.  
  
"It's actually quite simple. The host of this mind has clear ENDLESS mental defenses...like a fortress, you see? So strong we can't even tell where WE ARE...let alone whose mind we're in." Ichikoh shook her head despondently.   
  
"Really...? But then...how were we brought here?" Yugi asked, thoughtfully, while the others were struck by the thought as well, having come out of their dazed stupor.  
  
"Yeah, how WERE we brought here?" Joey asked, loudly.  
  
"I...I don't really remember what happened before we came here..." Bakura squinted, as if trying to remember something that had just slipped by. "...Sorry."  
  
"It's alright, Bakura. None of us remember." Said Tea, apologetically.  
  
"So, Ichikoh...do you know how we were brought here?" Yugi turned to face the mysterious girl once again after offering a few words of comfort to Bakura.  
  
"Your Millennium Items have many powers...they brought you here for some sort of purpose, undoubtedly...why not ask the spirits within them for some answers? I'm sure they would be able to provide-"  
  
Ichikoh was cut off but a sudden gust of wind and the burst of light coming from the ancient jewelry hanging around Yugi and Bakura's necks. When the dust settled, two more hand entered their party.  
  
Bakura's taller counterpart, the ancient thief spirit of his ring, scowled and crossed over to Ichikoh.  
  
"Neither that dratted Pharaoh nor I know anything about this stupid escapade, woman." Yami Bakura growled. "So there is little need to assume that the spirits that reside within the Millennium Items know a damned thing about how the hell their hikaris and hikaris' annoying FRIENDS were transported to this dump OF A MIND by our metal prisons! So don't even bother ASKING!" He screeched the last few words and stalked back over to his aibou, who looked a tad bit shaken up and smiled apologetically at everyone else.  
  
The remaining spirit, the much more pleasant and understanding Pharaoh of Yugi's Millennium Puzzle, rolled his eyes at the old tomb robber's behavior and shook his head, apparently slightly amused.  
  
"Don't think I didn't see that, PHARAOH!" Yami Bakura pointed accusingly at Yami Yugi.  
  
Adele was beyond shock, having never seen spirits come out of ancient Egyptian artifacts and start insulting each other. She looked as though she might faint from the shock of everything around her.  
  
"It is alright, Adele...do not be afraid of me." Yami said comfortingly, approaching the speechless girl with confident strides.  
  
"...Yugi...?" She pointed to the smaller Yugi, than to the larger one, apparently very confused. "Why are there...two of you...and Bakura?"  
  
"Adele...I am not Yugi. I am Yami Yugi, the spirit that resides within the Millennium, or Sennen, Puzzle, the puzzle around Yugi's neck. This is..." Yami gestured to the disgruntled white-haired thief behind him. "...Yami Bakura, the spirit within Bakura's Millennium Ring." Yami briefly explained the Millennium Items to Adele, who watched with curious fascination and wonder. Yami did not go into great detail, not wanting to frighten the girl out of her mind with some of the stories that might have been told, but when he was finished, Adele looked very amazed.  
  
Ichikoh, on the other hand, looked supremely bored. She coughed slightly to indicate that she was present and did not want to hear any more stories.  
  
Yami frowned at her attitude, but answered her initial question anyway.  
  
"As you yourself heard the tomb robber say, we know nothing of why we were brought here. However, our items have never failed us before and I believe there is a very important reason we are here. Therefore-" Yami put on his smug game face. "Me must enter this mind at all costs."  
  
"We're not gonna get in easy, right?" Joey consulted Ichikoh.  
  
"Correct." She said, crossing her arms skeptically at Yami. "Which is why I've come to send you back...YOU could be stuck here for YEARS without getting in."  
  
"But what if it's REALLY important?" Asked Mokuba, frowning slightly at Ichikoh's indifferent attitude.  
  
Ichikoh shrugged.  
  
"I suppose the items have a regime of their own, if the spirits within them didn't influence the transportation...but if it really is as urgent as you seem to think it is, the mind would have opened up to you and allowed you entrance. This one isn't budging, however..."  
  
"You mean...nothing will work?" Tristan asked, surprised. Yugi, Tea, Tristan, Joey, And Bakura all immediately tried to call out to the mind, but nothing they said seemed to matter to the host. After a few minutes of hopelessly trying, the five teens gave up and slumped on the "ground", exhausted.  
  
Mokuba and Adele had both chosen to abstain from the shouting, Adele because she was still quite shocked from the magic and spirits ordeal, and Mokuba because he was trying to explain it to her a little more in depth and take care of her. Everyone else defeated, Mokuba stood up and said, very firmly,  
  
"I think I'll try."  
  
Ichikoh, observing this, laughed slightly at Mokuba's small stature.  
  
"Listen, little boy," She started slowly, "If I cannot open this mind-and believe me, I tried before you all awoke-no mere mortals will be able to either. Here, why don't you try yourself?"  
  
"How shall I do it?" He asked, bravely staring her down.  
  
"It's straight-forward...just ask the mind to let you pass, as your friends did. If you are, by some bizarre twist of fate, able to be granted passage, you'll know you have succeeded. But don't get your hopes up, if *I* couldn't get through, no mere CHILD will-"  
  
Mokuba interrupted her with his plea.  
  
"Mind! If you don't open up to us, we're never going to be able to help you! Listen to me...we only want to help! Please..." Mokuba looked down at the ground. "Please..." A small tear escaped from his left eye.  
  
As if by the powerful force of some other-worldly being, the black around them began to change, reform. Ichikoh gave a strangled gasp as, by magic, a luxurious looking door appeared before them, beckoning.  
  
Mokuba wiped away his tear quickly, than looked up and smiled.  
  
"Thanks, Seto. I knew it was you." He whispered, smiling at the door thoughfully.  
  
Ichikoh continued to gape in disbelief as Yugi and his close friends all rose to leave.  
  
"I...I don't believe it..." She stuttered, "A...a CHILD??"  
  
"Thanks for your help, Ichikoh! But now we've gotta go!" Mokuba grinned at the speechless kimono-clad girl.  
  
"But...but, you still don't even know where this leads! You could be putting yourselves in DANGER!"  
  
"I'm afraid we must take the path that we feel is the best. It is our destiny to go through that door and to whatever lies beyond..." Yami led everyone to the door, including the disgruntled Yami Bakura.  
  
Without another word, all of them entered the beautiful but dusty doors.  
  
"Don't say I didn't warn yo......" Ichikoh's voice faded behind them.  
  
*************************  
  
Ieyre: So...tired...need...sleep...  
Yami Ieyre: According to the computer clock it is 11:23 PM...so, what is that in sundial time?  
Ieyre: LATE, Yami, LATE. Now press the stupid send button so I can sleep...  
Yami Ieyre: Aren't you going to tell them about the next chapter?   
Ieyre: Okay, okay...Yugi and co. go through the mysterious wooden doors to find a young man, apparently writing a diary...who is he? Addy and Mokuba seem to know...  
Yami Ieyre: That sounds like something they'd say at the end of DBZ, you know. It royally sucked.  
Ieyre: *rolls over* Ah, shut up, will yah? Oh, R&R people, okay? I could really use those reviews right now...k' bye...*collapses*  
Yami Ieyre: *clicks send*  



End file.
